Sunday, February 23, 2014

Egypt set to buy German submarines with funds from Gulf states

LONDON — Egypt was expected to submit a formal order for diesel-electric naval submarines in 2014.

Industry sources said Egypt has received Gulf Cooperation Council assistance that would enable the ordering of at least two advanced Western submarines. They said the Egyptian Navy has selected the Type 209 from Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

"Egypt has long sought such a naval capability, but it did not have the money," a source said. "Now, it received money from the Saudis and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] to begin the procurement process."

On Feb. 2, a leading European newspaper said Cairo was expected to exercise an option to procure the Type 209. The French daily La Tribune said the contract for the two underwater vessels would amount to 920 million euro, with delivery expected in 2016.

Egypt has confirmed efforts to purchase the Type 209s, a variant of which was sold to Israel. In 2012, the commander of the Egyptian Navy reported an initial agreement with the Berlin government as well as ThyssenKrupp.

La Tribune said Egypt signed a contract with ThyssenKrupp in 2011. The newspaper said the boat would contain the UGM-84 Harpoon Block 2 missile from the U.S. firm Boeing.

In August 2013, the administration of President Barack Obama said delivery of the the Block 2 missiles had been suspended. But in January 2014, a bill was introduced in Congress to restore $1.5 billion in military and economic aid to Cairo.